Adjustable waistband



Feb. 3, 1948. s. KRL-:Ps

ADJUSTABLE WAISTBAND Filed Jan. 25, 1946 lll l 5M/waa Keeps PatentedFeb. 3, 1948 U N I T ED STATE S OF FIC E Appiicatj; 643,356

Chimie (Cl.` H31) This invention relates to an adjustable waist Iconstruction for garments, particularlyments and ladies trousers andslacks.

It is the object of the presentv invention tope-,oe

vide an adjustable waist construction. for gar ments which is economicalto manufacture and is of pleasing appearance and comfortable to thewearer.

It is a further object of the present invention toY provide anadjustable waist construction for adjustment. requires no ripping orsewing operations, and which at the same time renders the adjustablewaist indiscernable and no different from waist constructions ofconventional. trousers.

It is a further object of the invention to incorporate an abdominalsupport as part of the Waist construction, which may be done at aninsignicant cost in the manufacture of the improvement in trouser Waistsin accordance with the present invention.

It is a further object of the invention to ncorporate novel belt effectsas part of trouser constructions which would enhance the noveity andconsequently the saleability of slacks, knickers and similar apparel inView of the special appeal of such arrangements to wearers of sportingapparel and the like.'

While eiforts have been made heretofore to obtain adjustable waistconstructions for trousers and other wearing apparel, these have failedto meetl with public favor for different reasons, such as the additionalcost of incorporating such adjustable expediente in the apparelconstruction, the limited range of adjustability aiorded by sucharrangements and the bunchi'ng and puckering resulting therefrom,tending to render the fitting of the garment unsatisfactory andunsightly as a result thereof.

All of such objectionable features are eliminated by the presentinvention which proceeds upon the principle of adjusting ,the rear ofthe garment in place and thereafter adjusting the degree of overlap ofthe front of the garment over the edges of the rear to obtain thedesired waist size quickly and easily by manipulation at the front ofthe garment and as a natural incident to the buckling-up of the garmentfor use every time the same is worn. It is significant that bothadjustments are made at the front of triev garment where such may bedone convenientiy whtleputtingonthe. same by the. wcaren Other objectspurposes will appear from the 'detailedA description of the; inventionfollowing hereinaitentakenin yconjunction with the ac,- companyi-ngwherein l. is va perspective view of the adjustable waist constructionapplied to a pair of trousers .from the front thereof and Fieri' is nperspective view of the adjustable waist eonstmctionxfrmn therearthereof.`

In thefdraw-ingsthe upperportion of a pairV of trousers: 'I' is shownembodying a. rear portion which is mamxfactnred'. in the conventionalmanner with acentral: t" therein, and which Yis adapted to be sewn tofronts, of thev leg por tions l' and 3 at theside seams t5. Theconstituent elements 'of trousers' or slacks are manufactured in theusual way, requiring no special operato, and; pockets; may be providedin yboth the iront and back portions as desired.

Side or top pockets. P' areprovided in the front portions; 2 3 desiredinclination, as indicated in Fig. 1, and the rear pockets P' may be; 1in the rearr portion l in the conmanner'. The only modification in the.trouser construction over conventional: trousers involves the provisions`ofyflapsox-v extensions I6 and I1' at the .upper-f part of the rearportion i beyond the ter- 20 of the Iside seams I5'. Cooperating -strapmembers il are attached by sewing or otherwise to the free ends of theflaps I6 and t1 and serve totasten the. rear portion of the garmentaround the Waist of the wearer. The width of these strap elements tl maybe varied so that wider widths 'they may serve the function of abdominalsupporters. 'Thereby the need of extraneous devices. such yas girdles,bands or the like; is eliminated in cases where some form ofabdommalisnpport is desirable.

" The utnstment .for the waist in accordance with the presentinventionis obtained by varying the degree of overlap of the frontal portions l,

'E of the trouser irronts 2 and 3, respectively, over the rear Sensorextensions i6 land i1. Thisoverlap is made smoothly, with no bun-chingor puckering as a result of the large extent of freedom of the frontalportions B and 1 from attachment with the rear portion in view of thetermination of the side seams at points 20, at approximately the levelof the lower ends of the side pockets P. Therefore the front portions 6and 'l may accommodate themselves into close contact with the rearportions I6 and I1 to render imperceptible the slits 4 and 5 whereat therearportion I is not sewed to the frontal parts 6 and 1.

In accordance with the invention, a neat and convenient mode ofpositioning the frontal portions over the rear portion at the front ofthe trousers is attained by the provision of belt members attached tothe extremities of the frontal portions B and 1 which are made to passaround the rear portion I and are thereafter brought to the front ofthegarment to eiect aconvenient and rapid fastening of the waist whereatthe same is readily observed by the wearer. This arrangement is clearlyillustrated in Fig. 2 which shows the belt portion 8 iixed to theextremity of'thef frontal portion 6 which passes around the rear to thefront of the garment at 8' and terminates inv the buckle I8. Likewisethebelt portion4 9 is atrtached to the extremity of the frontal portion'I vand passes around the rear portion ofthe garf ment through anopening I9 provided in the belt portion 8 at approximately the mid-pointthereof, wherefrom it passes to the front of the garment 9 so that theextremity thereof may cooperate with thebuckle I8. Any suitableiclaspmay be employed at the' extremities of the straps 8 and9.' to obtain aninterengagement vbetween'the partsrin lieu of the buckle and Aopeningsshown inthe drawings. y y Y l Novel dress eiects maybe obtained bythe-use 4 of leather belts, or belts of diiferent'fabric and plasticmaterials which are attached toV theextremities of the frontal portions6 andfl'. Of course, if desired, the same material of which theAtrousers are made maybe used for the belt members 8 and 9. As is wellunderstood in the art,

be1t loops I4 are provided on the rear portion of the garment, and beltloops I4". on the front thereof in any desired number to provide aneffective guide for the belt structure.'

By varying the extent of the rear flaps or pro-1 .jections I S and I 1,and by adjusting the upper vlimit 20 of the side seam stitching I5; thetrousers are capable of an adjustment within a range ofat `least fourinch variations in waist measurements, so that a merchant need stocka'correspondingly smaller number of units'in order to meet the needs ofhis trade.

The additional cost-of manufacture entailed by the provision of the beltelementsl applied to the frontal portions is oifset by theV furnishingof al be1t with the garment as well asrbyl the simplified- Afinishingoperation of the w'aistvportions.V The invention as embodied in aspeciiic form and as operating in a speciiic manner for purpose ofillustrati-on, it should be understood that I do not limit my inventionthereto,'since various modiiications will suggest themselves to thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention,the scope of which is set forth in the annexed claims.

I claim:

r l, A.f'garmentl embodying an adjustable waist comprising a' rearportion and a front portion ,f .seWed together at the sides with seamsterminating a substantial distance below the waistline,

a. forwardly disposed extension Von each side of the l c rea-r portionabove each seam, a frontal part on each side of the frontportionoverlapping the Y respective. adjoining extension of therearportion to obtain an adjustment of the waist dimension in dependenceupon the extent of overlap of said frontal parts over said extensions,and a belt memberoonnected to each frontal part passing rearwardly overand around the rear portion and to the front of the garment for povidinga` convement-,adjustment at thefront of the garment forthe Aextent ofoverlap of said movable frontal parts over said rear portion andextensions thereof. Y

2. A pair of trousers embodying an adjustable waist comprising a rearporti-on with forwardly manufacturing steps are such as-'do not increaseY materially the cost of manufacture thereofand are more than offset bythe-economies resulting in the course of distributionv and use of thetrousers, by the elimination of the need for any-initial alterations forwaist variations and the satisfaction to the. wearer of'having a trouserconj struction which can be adjusted to the variations in waistmeasurement in the course of time:

Although the invention `is of particularutility vin the Iprovision, ofadjustable .waistbands for trousers, the features thereoffmay beappliedas well Yto other articles of apparel such as skirts,

dresses and the like; While Il have described my disposed sideextensions at the upper end thereof, straps connected to said extensionsadapted to be y clasped together around the abdomen at the front of thewearer, right and left front portions sewed to the opposite sidesY ofVsaid rear portion at side seams terminating at the lower end of saidside extensions and a substantial distance below the waistline, theAlateral ends ofthe front portionsV overlapping said side n extensionsinvariable amounts to obtain an adjustment of. the waist dimensiondepending upon they extent of overlap of said front porti-ons over saidextensions, and a belt member connected to Veach front portion passingrearwardly over and around the rear portion and to the front of thegarment for providing a convenient adjustment at the front of thegarment for the extent of overlap of said adjustable front portions oversaid relatively fixed rear .portion and side extensions.

' SAMUEL KREPS.

` REFERENCES CITED'y Y The fcuowlng references are of record in the l leof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Y

